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Sousa: Istomin deserved to win

The Portuguese struggled and had to save three match points in order to beat Istomin, who was a break up in second and third set. Goffin beat Zeballos easily

Goffin met Paire, who was having his best tournament ever, last week. Paire won 4 matches as an underdog and to clinch his first ever ATP title. The defeat to Paire was considered a slip for Goffin but when the Frenchman is focused, he is a totally different player. The Belgian has a chance to make amends this week in Gstaad. He faced Horacio Zeballos in the first round and beat him. His opponent was in a better situation since he played qualifying matches and the first round here, which is important given the altitude. But that didn't matter in the end since Goffin won easily. 

The Argentina did have some eye problems, which prevented him from doing his beset but Goffin did good and won deservedly. 

- I started off very well, I was very aggressive and my serve worked well. It was a good match - Goffin said and added:

- I realized Horacio was having problems and I think that is why he wasn't focused from the start. But I managed to play my game until the end. 

David is right. He recently beat Zeballos at Wimbledon easily as well and now has one Gstaad match, which is very important. 

- Since this was my first match at higher altitude, it was almost perfect. My back doesn't hurt at all. I feel fully fit. I only hope I left the pressure of being the No. 1 seed behind - David said.

Sousa was, on the other hand, very disappointed last week. He played Umag final and lost it, which got him a bit depressed. It didn't, however, had an effect on his game so he went on and won his matches here. Both rounds so far were a struggled but he manged to get past anyway despite being on the bring of defeat against Istomin.

Istomin broke him at the start of the match, but Sousa responded promptly. Istomin still ended up winning the first set and had a 1-3 lead in the second one. Sousa was in a tough situation but then won 5 games straight. Istomin had a 2-5 lead in the third set but that use it, just like the three match points. He payed the price for it as Sousa won in the end. 

- Denis deserved to win but didn't use his chances here. I got here on Monday and needed time to adjust to altitude but it's getting better by the day - Sousa said.

He is not to meet a tougher opponent. Goffin is quite consistent and having no back problems, which is very important. Sousa was not as convincing here as he was in Umag, having struggled in both matches. Those problems have not just disappeared overnight. 

Goffin did a good job adjusting to the conditions in Gstaad to beat Zeballos easily. His opponent had some problems but regardless of that, Goffin did great. He recorded a shock defeat to Paire last week on account on Paire's momentum and Goffin's somewhat poorer physical state. Sousa is in fine form and mostly beats those who are worst than him. He is quite reliable but displayed some short comings last week and this one, which Goffin will take advantage of. He could have lost the second set against Laaksonen as well but he should have lost to Istomin altogether. Since Goffin is at a much higher level and has successfully adjsuted to the conditions, I think he will win by 6 or more games. Sousa, as a rule, loses to players like Goffin or those who are better.